Buck O’Neil to receive Medal of Freedom

Kansas City baseball legend Buck O'Neil will be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the White House announced Thursday.

O'Neil, who died Oct. 6 at age 94, was among 10 Americans named to the honor, the nation's highest civilian award.

A White House statement said O'Neil "represented excellence and determination both on and off the baseball field" as a player and manager in the Negro Leagues.

O'Neil became Major League Baseball's first black coach and was a co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo. He earned worldwide fame in 1994 after historian Ken Burns featured him in the documentary "Baseball."